


post-game rituals

by komkommertijd



Series: Hockey Boyfriends AU [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hockey, Friends to Lovers, M/M, National Hockey League, ice hockey, post-game traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:07:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24311770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komkommertijd/pseuds/komkommertijd
Summary: He falls asleep in his own bed and wonders about what has changed because his chest feels unbelievably tight. He argues that it might be a cold or the nerves before the playoffs and somehow he falls asleep, dreaming of empty Red Bull cans and pizza boxes.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Series: Hockey Boyfriends AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630426
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	post-game rituals

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with more Hockey AU content, yay!
> 
> Since it's almost summer now and I really miss the NHL (especially since I didn't get to have my annual mental breakdown over the Leafs choking in round one of the playoffs), I just wrote this thing yesterday and it took forever to find a title for it because yes, I am stupid. In the end, I went with the thing this is all about.
> 
> The road trip ritual thing is inspired by an interview I watched last week where a few of my favorite players talked about how they became friends (aka sharing a room on the road and going out for dinner together and so on) and the rest is just my wishful thinking of rookie hockey player Max and his first season. He probably should have more friends on the team after an entire year because usually, it's very easy-going with the teammates but oh well, let's blame his loneliness on his introverted behavior (which is, in fact, nothing to be ashamed of /feel bad about) and his conscious decision to stay a bit away from everyone. 
> 
> I don't think I have much else to say about this except my usual complaints about it being too short and not all that good and definitely not the way I wanted it to turn out but let's not discuss this here.
> 
> Have fun reading this, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> (Please keep in mind that English is not my native language and I'm also slightly dumb, so grammatical errors, misspelled words and the wrong use of vocabulary might occur. I apologize for that.
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://%20komkommertijd.tumblr.com/) if you want to complain about this or just talk to me, I promise I won't bite.)

When Max somehow survives the draft and gets the call he was waiting for, he can't believe it at first. When he receives his jersey and goes through the first press conferences, talking about how playing for this team has been a childhood dream of his, it doesn't quite feel real. When he sits in the locker room together with what would be his teammates now, he feels awkward and alone. They're all talking about the things they did over the past few weeks, about their kids and families, about their families and life back at home. Max just sits there and quietly laces up his skates.

He first meets Daniel Ricciardo, his role model and now team captain, on the ice a few minutes later and it takes him some time to realize that this is actually happening. Daniel pats his back and welcomes him to the team and Max's stomach performs a backflip when Daniel smiles behind his clear visor.

The summer camp goes by in the blink of an eye, days spent on the ice and exercising, and Max feels blissfully tired when his body hits the mattress every night. He has yet to decorate his flat and buy some more furniture, he has barely enough stuff to cook and do laundry when he's actually at home and not sleeping. It feels weird, being this far away from everything he knows in a foreign country he's never visited before and without any friends or familiar faces to spend his time with. Sure, there were some familiar faces, Max spent his entire youth watching ice hockey and it never subsided over the years, of course he knows the players of the team. But they don't know him yet and he doesn't know what they're talking about most of the time. Usually it's either a child or a dog, but Max doesn't have much experience with either of those things, so he just keeps doing his thing and shyly smiles when they're doing exercises in groups.

The guys are going out to watch baseball in a bar and eat dinner together. Max drags one of his kitchen chairs in front of his tv to watch the game and orders delivery food. He feels a bit lonely and makes a mental note to buy a couch soon, but he ignores it and scrolls through his Instagram feed, delighted to see his account gain some new followers due to the team promotions. It's an okay dinner and the team he was rooting for looses. He turns the tv off and goes to sleep, texts his mom good night and realizes that she's been asleep for at least six hours already.

It's September and the opening night is creeping closer and closer by the second and Max is excited and scared for the season to start at the same time. He trains a tad bit harder, spends more time exercising in his free time, and receives sarcastic praise from his sister for sticking to his diet instead of eating fast food every night. He still doesn't have a couch and the walls of his apartment look almost naked. They could use some decoration, maybe pictures or posters but Max doesn't have any so he drops the topic and swallows his salad, sitting on his kitchen chair in front of the tv with YouTube playing on his PlayStation.

He gets along fine with most of the other players by now, obviously bonding over their shared job and his desire not to disappoint them with how he plays. He's a forward player and that means he has to deliver, hell, he plays in the NHL – no matter his position, he has to fight to be better than the rest in order not to receive trash talk from overweight fans three times his age who claim to know everything better than he does. He already has his father for that anyway. Max tries so hard, stays behind at the rink after practice, and rewatches old games to understand the habits of other players.

His first game as a rookie goes well, he scores two goals and assists another one and the team cheers and players he barely ever talked to before hug him as tightly as their protection gear allows them to and praise him for being a fucking legend. The goals do look beautiful on the video Max watches later and he smiles through the interviews, nods and says he's satisfied with what he's done but threatening that he hasn't reached his limit yet and it feels relieving to take the sweaty gear off, he almost groans with how great it is to get out of his skates. Daniel pats his back on the way out, congratulates him, and ruffles his hair before he disappears to party with the other players. Max frantically tries to fix his hair with his cheeks tainted read and exhaustion trickling down his spine. He stays behind and goes home, eats his chicken breast for dinner, and makes a note on his phone to buy more furniture when he has time to do it.

His mom calls and her voice is sleepy on the phone, she's stayed up just to watch his debut game and she tells him how proud she is of seeing him play, making him laugh when she promises to show the clips of his goals to her co-workers the next morning to brag about her amazing child. He almost cries with how much he misses her and with how much her words move him, with how much it means to him and with the memory of how hard he'd fought to get there.

He hangs up ten minutes later when he realizes how late it is in Europe and tells his mom that he loves her and that she should say hi to Victoria for him and then it's silent in his apartment again and he's back to being alone. It's not that he particularly dislikes being alone, but somehow it feels wrong not to go out and celebrate his goals and his win, so he cracks open a bottle of beer from a brand he's never heard of and while it's not the best beer he's ever had, it's also not the worst and it is better than nothing in the end.

The first road trip is upon him two weeks later and he awkwardly shifts his weight from one foot onto the other when he waits in line to get his passport checked. The other team members are standing in front of him, dressed in sweatpants and hoodies with the team's colors and logo on them and he wears the same thing, with a matching beanie hiding his ridiculous hair and he clutches onto the passport and waits for his turn.

Daniel gets in line behind him and greets him with a smile and Max feels weirdly jittery when he steps up to the counter and hands his passport over, says he's headed to the US for a game and thanking the man on the other side of the counter when he lets him pass and wishes him a good flight and an even better game. He sits between Daniel and their coach on the plane and it's awkward as hell so he fumbles with his headphones until he's able to find a comfortable position for them and then he connects them to his phone and lets his music drown out the noise of the world around them. Daniel sleeps through the flight and he looks peaceful next to Max, so very different from his focused game face, from the aggression on the ice and the cheerful mood when the game is over and before it and well, Daniel appears to be happy all the time unless it's time to focus and fight.

Daniel asks him to share rooms when they get on the bus to the hotel and Max almost chokes on his answer so he simply nods and mirrors Daniel's smile. It's a little awkward at first but it's really hard to stay introverted around Daniel and soon they're arguing about the best poutine topping and their favorite sports teams outside of their league. They talk about a lot of bullshit and when Daniel goes out for dinner and drags Max with him, Max can't even find the willpower inside himself to protest.

They end up winning the game and while Max spends most of the time still getting used to the foreign environment, which is ridiculous really, as if it's his first time not playing on home ice, he still assists one of the goals and it's Daniel's and it just makes it a little sweeter than it already is. Daniel celebrates it on his own but still moves over to Max to pat his head and hug him, telling him that he did a great job and Max feels as if he's smiling around his mouth guard for the remainder of the game even though he clearly can't do that, not with how focussed he stays.

He gets changed and takes a shower after the game and the interviews feel easier that night. Victoria sends him a picture of their mom sleeping on the couch in front of the tv, fallen asleep while watching the game, and his heart aches. His finger hovers above the unblock button next to his father's name. He closes the messenger before he can do anything stupid and finishes packing his stuff. Daniel compliments his taste in music on their way home.

They eat fast food in bed after the game, dressed in boxer shorts and teeshirts and drinking Red Bull and Daniel announces that they should make this a ritual for on the road wins. Max's heart skips a beat and he shrugs but agrees – it's how their tradition starts. And who is Max to turn down a roommate for the road?

It's a steady season for them and every team has its highs and lows. They clutch a playoff spot last minute and the celebrations escalate that night. Max isn't really a fan of parties so he just watches it from the sidelines with his glass of coke in one hand and he drives Daniel home when he gets drunk and clingy. He ruffles Max's hair at the front door and tells him he's a good friend and it's the first time in a year that someone refers to him as a friend. Maybe Max should put more effort into befriending the team during summer camp. For now, having Daniel seems like enough though.

He falls asleep in his own bed and wonders about what has changed because his chest feels unbelievably tight. He argues that it might be a cold or the nerves before the playoffs and somehow he falls asleep, dreaming of empty Red Bull cans and pizza boxes.

They make it to the second round, in the end, managing to make it 4 – 3 at home in game seven. Max scores the final goal just seconds before the game ends and his stomach flutters with the realization of getting one step closer to hoisting the cup. He dares to dream and Daniel knocks their heads together in celebration. Max smiles behind his visor and maybe it's a promise, he's not sure, but Daniel doesn't look surprised in the slightest when he rings his doorbell later that night with a bag of takeout in one hand and a bag with four Red Bull cans he's gathered from his own fridge in the other and jokes about even packing his teeshirt.

It's weird to sit on Daniel's couch after he's talked Max into actually staying over and they're both wearing their boxer shorts and team shirts and it's comfortable. Max still doesn't own a couch he realizes but shoves the thought to the back of his head when Daniel falls asleep on his shoulder despite the energy drink he's had thirty minutes prior. He doesn't complain, his stomach performs another backflip.

Daniel complains about his aching back and about becoming old the next morning and Max smiles and offers to make breakfast – they end up burning some eggs and going out for breakfast at a coffee shop instead. Max wears a pair of Daniel's jeans and it should feel weird but it doesn't and maybe that's the most concerning thing about it all, how natural it feels to sit there with Daniel and stealing a pancake from his plate that neither of them should really eat. Daniel snatches Max's bacon in return.

They don't make it further than round two. The team is disappointed and so is Max but it's also nice to finally get a break from it all. He tries to cheer Daniel up and fails, so he leaves him alone and goes back to their shared hotel room on his own. Max skips dinner although he really shouldn't, but he's not in the mood for food and everyone understands it, feels the same. He stares at the wall of the hotel room and falls asleep with his head full of thoughts, ignoring his mom's texts and putting his phone on silent mode to get rid of the pity. It doesn't help him anyway.

Daniel returns in the middle of the night and he's even more disappointed than Max is and it's understandable, really, he's the team captain after all. He's noisy enough to wake Max up, so Max turns on his bedside lamp and waits for Daniel to return from the bathroom to tell him that it's not his fault and that there's no reason to blame himself and that as bad as it is, they can't change it anymore anyway. They collectively fucked up and they could try again next season but it's over and there's not much they can do. Daniel sits down at the edge of his bed and ruffles his hair and Max is too tired to complain, so he just lets him and sighs quietly.

They share Max's bed that night, with their legs tangled underneath the blanket and Daniel's head resting on Max's chest, a pleasant weight and pleasant heat next to his body. He carefully runs his fingers through Daniel's curls that are still damp from showering earlier, presumably to get the frustration out, and they fall asleep like that, in their boxer shorts and old teeshirts.

They fly back home the next day and say goodbye when they part ways, to go on vacation and to enjoy summer break away from it all. Max already has a flight booked to Amsterdam the next week. Something underneath his skin itches but he decides to ignore it, it's safer not to act on it.

His doorbell rings at 8 pm and he gets up from his kitchen chair and opens the door and Daniel is standing in front of it with a bag of food and two cans of Red Bull in his hands and he smiles and Max can't send him away like this. They eat dinner on the kitchen chairs and they clink their respective cans together before they empty them, to celebrate the season that now lays behind them and the off-season that's barely started yet.

Max speaks his mind and tells Daniel that he will miss him during the time they would spend apart until summer camp when they're standing in the kitchen later and Daniel stares at him for a while and says nothing, which is really not like him at all. Max blinks and realizes how nice Daniel looks with his base cap on backward and the team's hoodie still showing that he's not ready to let it all go and they just stand there like that with their eyes meeting in the middle.

Max never would have thought that he would kiss Daniel Ricciardo of all people that night but he's not complaining. It's the best way to end his rookie season and the only way to end it on a high, really. For a moment he even thinks it might feel better than hoisting the cup and he really wouldn't mind making it part of the post-game ritual. Daniel laughs when Max mumbles that thought against his lips and for a moment everything is perfect.


End file.
